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JAPAN
Feb 6, 1997

Japan wants arms transfer registration system augmented

Japan will propose expanding the United Nations registration system for conventional arms transfers to include domestically produced weapons to promote transparency in assessing military capabilities of member countries, government officials said Feb. 6.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 1997

Intersolv sets up Japanese subsidiary

Intersolv Inc., a computer software solution supplier based in Maryland, announced Feb. 5 that it has established a wholly owned subsidiary in Japan.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 1997

Diet passes 2.67 trillion yen supplementary budget

Despite opposition parties' mounting demands for revisions, a 2.67 trillion yen supplementary budget plan was enacted Jan. 31 without revisions at a House of Councilors plenary session.The Social Democratic Party voted for the extra budget package for fiscal 1996, helping the ruling Liberal Democratic...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 1997

Britain still in running for investment, Toyota head assures

Hiroshi Okuda, president of Toyota Motor Corp., said his company has made no decision on future investment in Europe and Britain remains one of many possible options.In a statement issued Jan. 30, Okuda said, "The Toyota Motor Corp. position regarding future investment in Europe is now under study and...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 1997

PC shipments continue upswing

Global shipments of personal computers grew 21.7 percent in 1996 from the previous year to 72.2 million units, paced by purchases in the U.S. by corporate buyers, a major Japanese think tank reported Jan. 30.Nomura Research Institute, affiliated with Nomura Securities Co., predicts that global PC shipments...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 1997

Flights may go all night at Haneda

The Transport Ministry is looking at turning Tokyo's Haneda airport into a 24-hour-a-day operation, ministry officials said Jan. 30.International charter flights would be allowed once the hours of operation are extended, they said. Currently, the airport operates between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m.According...
JAPAN
Jan 29, 1997

Internet provider to enter long-distance phone foray

Internet access provider Rimnet Corp. will join the heated competition among common Japanese carriers by launching long-distance telephone services via the Internet on April 21.Unlike other Internet phone services, Rimnet will not require users to have personal computers and application software to...
JAPAN
Jan 29, 1997

Murderer's appeal quashed by top court

A man who has spent 27 years in jail after being convicted of poisoning his wife, mistress and three others in Mie Prefecture had his fifth appeal for a retrial rejected by the Supreme Court on Jan. 29.The court rejected the special appeal filed by Masaru Okunishi, 71, ruling that the defense had not...
JAPAN
Jan 29, 1997

Industrial output rose in December

The nation's industrial output in December rose 0.3 percent from the previous month, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said in a preliminary report released Jan. 29.The ministry reported that the nation's production activities are now "on the rise." The adverb "moderately," used in every...
JAPAN
Jan 29, 1997

Holding companies move closer

In an attempt to accelerate the process of lifting the ban on holding companies, the Fair Trade Commission on Jan. 29 presented to the ruling coalition the gist of a bill to revise the Antimonopoly Law.Representatives from the three ruling parties -- the Liberal Democratic Party, the Social Democratic...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 1997

Minister firm on keeping public money from ailing banks

The government has not changed its stance on refusing to use public funds to help banks erase their nonperforming loans, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said Jan. 28.After the tremendous uproar last spring caused by the infusion of 685 billion yen in public funds to help cover losses left by seven...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 1997

NCR to give employees stock option

NCR Japan Ltd., a subsidiary of U.S.-based NCR Corp., announced Jan. 28 that it will introduce a "stock option" incentive program for its employees, becoming the first Japanese listed firm to offer such a program.The company's 3,200 workers will be given the right to purchase 90 shares of its parent...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 1997

Tokyoites discuss possible capital move

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government held a conference with Tokyo residents and workers Jan. 27 to discuss relocating the capital outside the city.The Tokyo government restated the opinion of some that the issue should be considered very carefully and that reform and decentralization of central government...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 1997

Sanyo to boost investment in solar battery business

Sanyo Electric Co. will invest 2.5 billion yen in its solar power battery operations in fiscal 1997 and another 10 billion yen in the following three years, Sanyo President Yasuaki Takano said Jan. 28. Takano said the strategy will make Sanyo a leader in the field in Japan by 2000.Takano predicted that...
JAPAN
Jan 27, 1997

Hashimoto wants big extra budget

Despite calls by opposition parties to curb extra state spending, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on Jan. 27 emphasized the need to implement a proposed 2.666 trillion yen supplementary budget for fiscal 1996.Hashimoto made the remarks in the Diet after Hajime Ishii of Shinshinto, the largest opposition...
JAPAN
Jan 27, 1997

Firms continue clinging to report days

Many companies plan to announce their financial results on the same day this year, despite various efforts to reduce excessive concentration of such presentations, a Tokyo Stock Exchange survey revealed.As many as 304 companies surveyed last month said they plan to announce their fiscal 1995 results...
JAPAN
Jan 23, 1997

JRA jockeys cough up 220 million yen

A number of popular Japan Racing Association jockeys, including Norihiro Yokoyama, 28, have revised their income tax returns and paid a total of 220 million yen in back taxes for the three years up to 1995, tax authority sources said Jan. 23.The back taxes are a result of taxation authorities' new policy...
JAPAN
Jan 22, 1997

Execs call for legal reform aimed at freeing the market

Japan's legal system should be drastically reformed in order to free up the nation's market, make it transparent and put it in harmony with international standards, according to a report released Jan. 22 by the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai).The report lists a number of revisions...
JAPAN
Jan 21, 1997

Opposition to push for budget revisions

In a bid to put concerted pressure on the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, three non-Communist opposition forces agreed Jan. 21 to discuss joint efforts to call for revisions to a government-proposed supplementary budget.Members of the Diet affairs steering committee from Shinshinto, the largest opposition...
JAPAN
Jan 21, 1997

American rice campaign kicks off in Tokyo

In an effort to acquire a greater share of the Japanese rice market, the USA Rice Federation embarked Jan. 21 on a campaign to have more Japanese consumers give American rice a try, federation representatives said at a news conference in Tokyo.Imports of American rice have been allowed for two years...
JAPAN
Jan 21, 1997

Hashimoto renews fiscal reform pledge

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto restated his intention Jan. 21 to work out measures to reduce the nation's massive fiscal deficit, saying that he "will never retreat" on this issue despite the obstacles he expects to encounter on the road to successful reform.Hashimoto made the remark at the first...
JAPAN
Jan 21, 1997

Kosugi stands ground on "comfort women" in textbooks

Descriptions of "comfort women" will be printed in junior high school textbooks in April as scheduled, Education Minister Takashi Kosugi said Jan. 21 in a meeting with a group of intellectuals who are demanding the plan be scrapped.Seven members of the Group to Make New History Textbooks demanded that...
JAPAN
Jan 20, 1997

Ozawa rallies remaining Shinshinto troops

Shinshinto leader Ichiro Ozawa said Jan. 20 that members of the largest opposition party should unite to enable the party to deprive the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of power."Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and his administration are not capable of carrying out reforms despite repeated pledges,"...
JAPAN
Jan 20, 1997

Ministers mull spill, admit unreadiness

The government Jan. 20 convened the first meeting of 15 Cabinet members to deal with the oil spill in the Sea of Japan, Transport Minister Makoto Koga said.Meanwhile, oil continued to threaten the cooling systems of several nuclear power plants. The operators of the Tsuruga plant in Fukui Prefecture...
JAPAN
Jan 20, 1997

Defense intelligence functions united

To better deal with international crises in the post-Cold War era, the Defense Agency on Jan. 20 inaugurated the Defense Intelligence Headquarters to integrate military and civilian intelligence functions.The headquarters will enable the agency to more swiftly and efficiently collect and analyze military...
JAPAN
Jan 17, 1997

Foreign automakers fight to secure market share

With more people in Japan beginning to think that there is nothing special about imported cars, foreign automakers can no longer rely on their once luxurious brand image to do the selling for them.Now foreign carmakers are finding themselves in increasingly fierce competition with domestic automakers....
JAPAN
Jan 17, 1997

Ruling allies await LDP reform plans

With dark political and economic uncertainties hanging over the nation, the government and ruling Liberal Democratic Party are expected to face several challenges during the 1997 regular Diet session that convenes Jan. 20.The LDP, which lacks a majority in the Diet, is expected to place priority on...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 1997

Stock market props ruled out

Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka indicated Jan. 14 he does not see an immediate need for new stimulus measures to help prop up the flailing stock market. Authorities are viewing the situation with keen interest and will keep a close eye on movements in the stock market, Mitsuzuka told a news conference....
JAPAN
Jan 13, 1997

Use of antisubversive law facing uncertainty

The Public Security Commission will probably not outlaw Aum Shinrikyo under the Antisubversive Activities Law despite a request from the Justice Ministry's Public Security Investigation Agency, sources close to the commission said Jan. 13. About half of the commission members reportedly oppose applying...
JAPAN
Jan 10, 1997

First day of civil aviation talks ends nowhere

Japan and the U.S. made no progress Jan. 10 in their first day of civil aviation talks, spending the session strongly rejecting each other's proposals, according to Transport Ministry officials. The discussions will continue Jan. 11.Saying it is unlikely that either side will agree to the current proposals...

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo